James Lehane says wife Andrea Lehane was taken from him for "cheap and reckless thrills". Photo / Facebook
James Lehane says wife Andrea Lehane was taken from him for "cheap and reckless thrills". Photo / Facebook
The family of a Melbourne mother left choking on her own blood have slammed the inhumanity of the young man who ran her down while speeding on a mini motorbike for "the sake of cheap thrills".
Caleb Jakobsson was riding his self-built monkey bike when he fatally struck Andrea Lehane, 34, on a pedestrian crossing outside a Carrum Downs shopping centre in September 2015.
The mother of two was thrown more than 5m, suffering catastrophic injuries.
Jakobsson, now 20, did not stay to find out what had happened to the nurse, fleeing to a friend's house.
He pleaded guilty in March to culpable driving causing death and failing to stop after the crash.
In court on Wednesday, Jakobsson heard Lehane's loved ones talk about how her death had affected them.
Adele Paraggio told the court she was appalled Jakobbson had run away while her sister was left "choking on her own blood".
"Such an inhumane act was done to my little sister," Paraggio said. "How much pain did she feel? How could someone just leave someone there? It hurts like hell."
She said her sister's young children will have to grow up without the support of their mum.
James Lehane told the Victorian County Court his wife's death "tears him up inside" and that Jakobsson's recklessness was unforgivable.
"My beautiful wife was snatched away forever for the sake of cheap and reckless thrills," Lehane said in his victim impact statement.
Mother of two Andrea Lehane, pictured with husband James, was struck by a small motorbike in a hit-run at Carrum Downs, Melbourne. Photo/Facebook
"This cowardly and easily avoidable crime has left me as a single parent of two young children." He said he was lucky to have met his caring wife and her death had left him with a hole that can't be filled.
Lehane's family were forced to switch off her life support two days after the crash.
"She looked like an angel. The accident had spared her face," Lehane's mother Opal Paraggio said of the painful goodbye.
"Andrea was stolen away from us at the peak of her life."
The court heard Jakobsson was speeding on his motorbike, which had no front brakes, at the time of the collision.
Caleb Jakobsson will be sentenced on May 31. Photo/News Corp Australia
Defence lawyer Kristie Churchill said her client was not a bad person. She asked the judge to sentence Jakobsson to a youth justice facility rather than an adult prison.
"He's not an evil person. He was an 18-year-old who made a terribly bad decision," she said.
